Robert McCrum on books + Herman Melville | The Guardianhttps://www.theguardian.com/books/series/robert-mccrum-on-books+hermanmelville
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English literature's 50 key moments from Marlowe to JK Rowlinghttps://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2013/feb/04/english-literature-key-moments-jk-rowling
What have been the hinge points in the evolution of Anglo-American literature? Here's a provisional, partisan list<p>BBC Radio Three is currently broadcasting a fascinating series on <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0147b49" title="">the "50 key works" of classical music</a>. This is a spin-off from Howard Goodall's BBC2 television series and its tie-in book, <a href="http://www.guardianbookshop.co.uk/BerteShopWeb/viewProduct.do?ISBN=9780701187521" title="">The Story of Music (Chatto)</a>, and it crystallises – for the amateur listener – the turning points in the evolution of the classical tradition in the most enthralling way. Did you, for instance, know that Procul Harum's Whiter Shade of Pale contains a harmonic line that is pure Bach?</p><p>So much for music. Following Radio 3, I've found myself speculating about the 50 key moments in the Anglo-American literary tradition. Arguably, Goodall's very good idea works almost as well for the history of the printed page.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2013/feb/04/english-literature-key-moments-jk-rowling">Continue reading...</a>BooksCultureChristopher MarloweWilliam ShakespeareJohn MiltonSamuel PepysJohn LockeWilliam CongreveDaniel DefoeJonathan SwiftSamuel JohnsonMary WollstonecraftWilliam WordsworthLord ByronEmily BrontëCharles DickensHerman MelvilleCharles DarwinLewis CarrollWilkie CollinsGeorge EliotRobert Louis StevensonOscar WildeThomas HardyJM BarrieJames JoyceTS EliotF Scott FitzgeraldGeorge OrwellIan FlemingJack KerouacMaurice SendakTruman CapoteWG SebaldAmazon.comJK RowlingTed HughesFictionPoetryTheatreJane AustenMon, 04 Feb 2013 12:30:12 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2013/feb/04/english-literature-key-moments-jk-rowlingPhotograph: Hulton Getty/Murdo MacleodLiterary turning points ... Christopher Marlowe and JK Rowling. Photograph: Hulton Getty/Murdo MacleodPhotograph: Hulton Getty/Murdo MacleodLiterary turning points ... Christopher Marlowe and JK Rowling. Photograph: Hulton Getty/Murdo MacleodRobert McCrum2013-02-04T12:30:12ZHerman Melville, the last great enigma of American literaturehttps://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/jan/30/herman-melville-mark-twain-parini
A new fictionalised account tries to unravel the dark secrets of the creator of Moby-Dick<p>On 5 August 1850, a boisterous party of writers and publishers climbed Monument Mountain in Massachusetts, on roughly the American equivalent of a hike in the Lakes. Among the literati on this famous excursion were Nathaniel Hawthorne, aged 46, the author of <em>The Scarlet Letter</em>, a contemporary sensation, and Herman Melville who, after a very successful debut (<em>Typee</em>), was struggling to complete an unwieldy coming-of-age tale about a South&nbsp;Seas&nbsp;whaler.</p><p>Melville, who was just 31, had never met Hawthorne. But it's no exaggeration to say that, after a day of open-air larks, a quantity of Heidsieck champagne, several impromptu toasts and a sudden downpour, the younger man was enraptured with his new friend who had, he wrote, "dropped germinous seeds into my soul". Rarely in Anglo-American literature has there been such a momentous meeting.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/jan/30/herman-melville-mark-twain-parini">Continue reading...</a>Herman MelvilleBooksCultureSun, 30 Jan 2011 00:02:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/jan/30/herman-melville-mark-twain-pariniPhotograph: Rue Des Archives/ Rue des Archives/PVDEA portrait of Moby-Dick author Herman Melville circa 1870. Photograph: Rue Des Archives/ Rue des Archives/PVDEPhotograph: Rue Des Archives/ Rue des Archives/PVDEA portrait of Moby-Dick author Herman Melville circa 1870. Photograph: Rue Des Archives/ Rue des Archives/PVDERobert McCrum2011-01-30T00:02:00Z